Google may buy Yelp – because of Microsoft?

The big buzz today is that Google reportedly is in talks to buy Yelp, the popular business-review site. TechCrunch first reported the rumors Thursday night and The New York Times confirmed the talks this morning.

Why is this such big news? Because in purchasing Yelp, while Google would gain 8.5 million business reviews for major U.S., Canadian and British cities, it would also gain a strong and established ad-sales force in many local markets.

Google already has been trying to fill out its Place Pages, a directory of local businesses that’s integrated with both search and Google Maps. But Yelp, with its original and user-generated content, has already done most of this work.

The price tag for Yelp, which reportedly is on track to bring in $30 million in revenue this year, could be higher than $500 million, TechCrunch reported. One of the industry blog’s sources said the acquisition is 80 percent likely.

“If this does happen it will reverberate through the entire ‘local ecosystem’ for many months to come,” wrote Greg Sterling, a columnist for Search Engine Land. “No, it would be an earthquake.”

However, at least one Web-search expert thinks Google is responding to Microsoft. The Redmond-based company’s search engine, Bing, already has been integrating content from local partners into search results.

“A potential acquisition of Yelp by Google could be seen as a reaction to Microsoft’s strategy,” said Adam Bunn, head of search engine optimization at the U.K. firm Greenlight. “And let’s not forget the huge potential for Google to sell targeted ads across a local network that it controls directly.”